Film News Roundup: Nicolas Cage’s ‘Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ Gets Release Date
By Dave McNary
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s film news roundup, Nicolas Cage’s “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” and indie drama “Shooting Heroin” get release dates, the “Big Fur” documentary finds distribution and Ezra Miller forms a production company.
RELEASE DATES
Lionsgate has dated the movie “” for March 19, 2021.
Tom Gormican is directing from a script he wrote with Kevin Etten. Cage will produce via his Saturn Films banner, alongside Mike Nilon and Kevin Turen.
Cage will play a version of himself as an actor who, in need of some money and creatively unfulfilled, begrudgingly accepts a $1 million offer to attend the birthday of a Mexican billionaire super fan. When things take a wild turn, Cage is forced to live up to his own legend to extricate himself from an increasingly dangerous situation.
“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” is the second film to land on March 21, 2021. United Artists’ “Tomb Raider 2,” starring Alicia Vikander, has also been set for the same slot.
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Veritas Films has set an April 3 release date for “Shooting Heroin,” starring Sherilyn Fenn, Alan Powell, Garry Pastore, Nicholas Turturro, Cathy Moriarty and Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs.
The film is produced, directed and written by Spencer T. Folmar. The story deals with a group of vigilantes in a small-town community coming together to fight back against the spread of drugs “by any means necessary.”
The movie won the best film, director and supporting actor awards at the Hell’s Kitchen Film Festival in New York City in October. “Shooting Heroin” will be shown in Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York City, Orlando, Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville, Washington D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit and Chicago.
ACQUISITIONS
1091 has acquired the worldwide rights to director Dan Wayne’s documentary, “Big Fur,” following its showing at the Slamdance Film Festival.
The distributor is planning a 2020 summer release for “Big Fur,” centered on taxidermist Ken Walker and his recreation of a female Sasquatch for the 2015 World Taxidermy Championships.
Wayne produced “Big Fur” with Jon Niccum, written and edited by George Langworthy.
PRODUCTION COMPANY
Ezra Miller has joined forces with Saul Williams to form MartyrLoserKin Productions, launching with the sci-fi musical “Neptune Frost.”
Williams will direct the movie,
focused on an intersex African hacker and a miner. The film will be executive produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephen Hendel. Principal photography began Monday in Rwanda.
